WASHINGTON — The government of Luxembourg has passed a bill giving companies the rights to space resources they extract from asteroids or other celestial bodies.The parliament of Luxembourg, a unicameral body known as the Chamber of Deputies, voted 55 to 2 in favor of the space resources law July 13. Passage of the bill means the act will become law on Aug. 1.“Luxembourg is the first adopter in Europe of a legal and regulatory framework recognizing that space resources are capable of being owned by private companies,” Étienne Schneider, deputy prime minister and minister of the economy, said in a statement. “The Grand Duchy thus reinforces its position as a European hub for the exploration and use of space resources.”The law, which the government has been working on since last year, grants companies operating out of the country ownership of space resources they extract, similar to provisions in the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, which became law in the U.S. in November 2015.“Space resources are capable of being appropriated,” the first article of the Luxembourg act states, according to an English translation provided by the government.The rest of the act sets up a system for ...